The Next Phantom
by Spectral Ninja
Summary: I'm more than just an astronaut's son. I'm much more than that. With my powers, I can change. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey, sorry for the long wait but here's the new version of The Next Phantom. I hope you enjoy this one. There's a more detailed plot compared to the last one so... yeah_

_Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman while Jason belongs to me._

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><p>Ok, you had just clicked on this story completely out of boredom, expecting to read something a little interesting, right? If you are, you picked the wrong one. You wouldn't want to listen to my life story and all that. I'll just bore you to death. I'm being serious. Go away. Scram. You aren't going to like this one bit.<br>...

Some of you are still here, aren't you? Are you seriously crazy enough to stay on this very page? Well, I guess you are, considering that you're still reading this pointless argument.

Before I give you the deeper details, I have to start with the introduction. The name is Jason Kenneth Fenton but just call me by my first name or you'll be dead to me. My personality? Definitely something you wouldn't want to cross. Likes? Just the usual. Dislikes? Don't ask. Family? It's complicated. Who am I as a person? Well, that's where we begin. Way back from where I am now, I always hated that question. Whenever I had to answer that, it would go like, "Oh, I'm just the son of Mr. and Mrs. Fenton."

That was all you needed to know about me.

As a kid, I was only known for being related to the famous and intelligent Dr. Daniel Fenton of NASA. With him as my parent, I felt like I was hiding underneath his shadow. No, scratch that. They wanted me to _be_ his shadow, a perfect carbon copy who has all his… _everything_. An example for this was when teachers had extremely high expectations from me whenever I go under their care. They would always expect me to come out of the school year with flying colors because I'm _his _son. When a year passes, you could say that they were rather disappointed with how things truly turned out. Schoolmates even eyed me like a hawk, wanting me to talk with them or at least a small smile just so they can tell their friends that the _Fenton _kid had noticed them. In the end, all I did was run as fast as possible, afraid to disappoint them with the real me.

For years, hatred towards expectations and living under my dad's good name grew with each incident that involved either of the two. One day, I decided that enough was enough and became a rebel, something that isn't my dad. When I placed my plan into action, many were really surprised with how I turned out. I stopped caring about making the grade, I learned how to glare back at people who are rude enough to stare at me, and I even talked back when I felt like it. As time flew by, I noticed that people were gradually ignoring me. I had to admit that I was a little giddy about it. I was beginning to get used to the new me that the shy and quiet Fenton kid disappeared. After a year of being a trouble maker, I was surprised I graduated middle school. Still, my parents received a notice regarding my performance and it made them worry. Too bad for them, I didn't care. I thought that this would be the rest of my life. I thought I would be the nothing like my father anymore. To tell you the truth, I was _**wrong**_.

It all started on the last week of summer. I remembered the weather being extremely hot despite the fact that autumn was just around the corner. Most of our things were packed into boxes, wrapped in plastic or simply left as it is. Mom's plants, on the other hand, were placed in special containers so that there was enough air for them to breath. Meanwhile, my dad was busy helping the movers carry the last of stuff into the truck as mom went through her checklist again; wanting to make sure that everything we needed was there. As they placed the furniture into the truck one by one, my sister simply watched them from within the car as her eyes emitted that small spark they usually carry. As I watched this, I rolled my eyes in annoyance and I tapped away on my videogame, not giving a damn with whatever's going on outside.

As you can tell, we were moving away from Florida and it was about a month ago when my family decided to move. The reason behind was that dad got assigned to be one of the major supervisors of Axion Lab's brand new space project. There were hopes that this very project would give NASA missions a little more edge and dad was chosen since he was one of the top captains of the association. The problem was that it would take a few years before the project would be complete and dad would be so busy that he won't be able to visit us at all. My dad refused to leave us so he suggested that we all move to his parents' place while both he and mom invested in a brand new house.

What really sucks about this idea was that I was the only one who disagreed. As much as I hated my old schoolmates, moving to a different place would mean dealing with different kinds of people. I got used to everyone's personality in Florida so why move? Plus, the only friend I can actually talk to lives here. His name is Blake and there wasn't any chance for him to move to Amity Park. He's a big pain in my butt but he still sticks with me even if I don't talk that much. Why he wanted to hang out with me instead of a whole bunch of people who were as outgoing as he was is completely beyond my understanding.

"Big brother, what are you doing?"

I looked to my right and noticed that my younger sister took a sudden interest in my game. I glared at her as I flicked the device off.

"It's none of your business Lilia and besides," I said as I tossed the game right into my backpack, "I'm not interested in playing it anymore."

"Why don't you let me play with it?" Lilia said with a pout. She was trying so hard to make it look cute but it was too bad that it didn't work on me.

"Because, Lilia, it's for big boys," I said as a smirk formed across my face, "and you're still a little girl. Why would you want to play a game that's too violent for you? Do you want the monsters in this game to eat you for dessert?"

Lilia crossed her arms as she stuck her tongue out at me, which I did back.

"You're a meanie!"

"And you're a brat so that makes us even."

After that little show, there was complete and utter silence in the car. A few more seconds passed by before I became bored again. This time, I brought out my sketch book and began making doodles of the characters in the game I just played. Another few seconds passed by until I caught my sister's attention again.

"Can you draw a baby pony for me?"

"_LILIA!_"

"Kids, we're almost leaving. Your daddy's just securing the rest of the stuff and then off we go."

My sister and I looked up from our squabble to see our mom fastening her seat belt, looking at us with a smile on her face. If there was anything that mom could do, she could stop a fight before it can even starts.

Before I forget, my mom's full name is Samantha Elizabeth Fenton and she's probably one of the few people I actually respect. She's rather strict about the rules but whenever she becomes a comforting mother, she has this weird calming effect on me every time. Her long hair was usually tied up into a neat ponytail and she loved wearing that lavender sweater my dad gave her two Christmas's ago. She was now wearing a smart looking pair of black pants with black high heels to match. She was a little tanned because she works as an environmentalist and therefore works underneath the sun from dusk 'til dawn. The one feature that she and I probably shared is our eyes. Even if she's a shade lighter than mines, I still inherited it from her.

So anyways, Lilia began to look at her as if our fight never existed and set her angel mode on high gear. She then said in the most sickening sugary voice, "Ok, mommy. I can't wait to leave for Ah-mi-tee."

God, I hate it when she does that.

Mom laughed as she looked at me with one eyebrow raised. "I hope you're taking care of your sister," she said with a wink as she ruffled my hair. As soon as she let go, I tried to get my hair back to its original look. As much as I loved mom, she still treats me like a child. It's hard to believe it when dad keeps on talking about her gothic phase.

Speaking of dad, I looked outside once more and noticed him walking towards the car. I frowned when I realized we were about to leave the place. The car door opened and in came the man I tried so hard not to be.

Like what I said earlier, I really didn't enjoy being his son. It's not that I hate him or anything but it's just becomes a real pain when people pester me on how I'm not as smart as he was or when they try to make me into him. You know the high expectations and all that, right? I don't want to be him because I'm not him. Besides, he's an extremely hard working man who dedicates his blood, sweat and tears to his job—including his family─ and it caused many people look up to him while I'm just...

You be the judge of who I am.

I just wish that people would stop comparing me to him, though. I know I'm the son but nobody really wanted to know me better. All they want to do is ask me about him. Never me.

"Things are a go!"

I snapped out of my trance as I noticed the rumble of the engine. My dad grinned at us before he looked onto the road ahead of him.

"Kids, it'd be better if you get some shut eye for now. It's going to be a long ride from here."

Slowly, I felt the car moving forward. I silently looked behind my back and watched our old house disappear into the distance. I sighed heavily as I looked at my little sister's face. She had a worried expression etched all over it suddenly. I couldn't blame her. She was feeling the same thing I was. I leaned my head against the window and watched as the many familiar places passed us by. We would probably never see them for the time being. A few more minutes later, we finally exited the state and there was no going back. I slumped against my chair, ignoring the stuff that was outside. I had no idea why but I had this horrible sinking feeling right at my chest. I wished it was just something temporary.

Suddenly, I felt something warm and heavy on my lap, only to find out that my sister had dozed off. I know this may sound weird but, just this once; I let my sis rest just there. I couldn't help but empathize with her. Soon enough, I felt myself being pulled into slumber as well.

Like my dad said, it was going to be a long trip.


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry for being late on this one you guys but I seriously promise to be faster with my updates since I'm starting to outline everything._

Jason: She's serious about that. Though I could recommend it if you guys pelt her with tomatoes.

_Haha, Jason. You just found yourself a sense of humor. Yeah, so anyways, here's another chapter for TNP :D_

_Disclaimer: I don't own what doesn't belong to me such as _Danny Phantom _and _Amnesia_. They belong to someone else._

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><p>After what seemed like five minutes of sleep, I woke up. I didn't bother to open my eyes since it was extremely silent, a sign that I was not meant to wake up just yet. Wanting to go back to sleep, I tried shifting into a more comfortable position but it only caused a stabbing pain to surge up my spine. I simply ignored it, knowing what car seats could do in one's sleep. I moved once more and felt something heavy sitting on my lap. I was confused for a bit but I remembered that Lilia's head rested there. Trying to nudge her, I said, "Lilia, do you mind moving a little? Your hard head is giving me more trouble than it's supposed to."<p>

I waited for an answer but after a few good seconds of my time, she didn't answer. Annoyed with this, I groaned. "Lilia, please. I'm not in the mood." Again, there was no reply. After a few more minutes, I got frustrated with her silence. I know she was a brat but she didn't have to act this way. Opening my eyes, I was prepared to yell angrily at her stubbornness. That wasn't so because I ended up jumping out of the floor I was sitting on. Yes, I was on the floor. As I stood, the object on my lap landed on the floor with a loud _KLUNK._

Once I gathered my senses, I tried to catch a glimpse of thing that landed on the ground. It definitely wasn't my sister but a musty old skull that looked about centuries old. It didn't seem like a regular skull either. For one thing, it seemed to give off a greenish glow. I shuddered. I didn't like the situation I was in. Just as I thought things were weird enough, a disembodied voice echoed.

"_Jason Fenton. __ It's been... yearssssss since we've last meet, hasn't it?_"

A shiver ran through me again as I began to look about. The darkness prevented me from seeing anything further than my hands so it was impossible for me to find the speaker. Also, the voice seemed to come from my head so I really couldn't tell where he was.

"_Afraaaaaaaaiiiaid, young Fenton?" _the voice hissed on, "_Don't be. If you don't want to get hurt, just give me what is rightfully miiiiine._"

I didn't like how the guy was convincing me with a threat. It was like an iron maiden with a sign that says, 'HEY, I'M SAFE!' hanging by its side. I should know; I played _Amnesia_ once and I died in the game just by hiding in it. Mustering up the courage I had within me, I replied shakily, "Um, I really don't know who you are or how you know my name but whatever you probably want, I don't know. Is it because I'm a rich kid or something? Well, there are bunch of others and…

Before I even finished my sentence, malicious laughter filled the air.

"_Wealth?"_ he replied, amused with what I just said, _"That is not what I require. There is something muuucccchh more useful you could offer to me than money."_

"More useful than money?" As much as I hated to admit it, the one of the reasons why people ever paid attention to me was the fact that I come from a rich family. I did mention that my dad was an astronaut earlier, didn't I? Well, he's one of the top contributors of NASA and that makes him get paid better. Also, my mom has this huge heritage from her parents. As if it wasn't enough…

"_Yes, young Fenton," _the voice said_, "You could offer me your power…"_

That last statement was like a huge punch in the gut. _Power?_ I was a scrawny teen with no hope for a social life. I used to cut P.E. classes since I always end up falling on the floor from exhaustion. For me to have power is just really insane.

"_You don't believe me, dooo you?"_

I looked around. He could read my thoughts? I pushed that idea away. There's just no way could that be possible. "Please," I said, my voice rising with impatience, "I don't have time for this mumbo jumbo. You can find yourself some other power. All you need to know is that I don't have any of it!"

"_You're temper and ignorance gets in the way but no matter. You will remember me when our paths will truly cross. If you turn me down, remember this pain…_"

Before I even asked, my head began to pound. It was like a thousand spears going through it. The longer it lasted, the more its intensity rose. With each second, my brain lost its control over my body. My knees buckled, then my lungs stopped taking in air. I felt my breath beginning to disappear. I tried getting on all fours but then my sense of control over my arms went numb and I collapsed onto the floor again. This pain I was going through was like holding onto a thread of consciousness. As I was about to slip into the darkness, I managed to see two cruel red eyes.

"St-stop," was all I managed to croak, "I…"

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><p>"Wake up, Jah-son!"<p>

I opened my eyes by a fraction, only to close them again when the light blinded me. After a few moments, my eyes were finally able to adjust. I was still in the car. I looked around just to make sure I was really back. After I checked, I sighed in relief and leaned against the window. The dream was just too real. Suddenly, something began tugging me at my sleeve. It almost made me jump through the roof. I looked to my immediate right and saw my sister jumping up and down in excitement, still holding onto my jacket.

"Big brother, look outside."

I sighed in relief. _God_, I thought, _that nightmare really did a number on me if it made me this afraid of my five year old sister. _

"Look, look, look," she squealed again, pointing outside the window.

"Gosh, Lilia, what is it that want me to see?"

"Daddy said this is Ah-mi-tee Park!"

I rolled my eyes. So we're here at this place already. As I looked outside, I could see nothing but a simple old town. There was nothing special about it, really. It just had this warm and cozy feeling about. There were even billboards with crappy advertisements like, 'Amity Park: A Safe Place to Live' and 'The Friendliest Place on Earth'. If you ask me about my first impression about this place, I'd give you a one out of five. I'd give it a two if there was an arcade.

"Jason, are you ok?"

I looked ay the front as I saw my mom showing some concern towards me. I avoided any eye contact as I replied, "Yeah. The AC's just a bit too cold. That's all."

I knew that mom didn't believe a single word I said but she simply nodded in acknowledgment as she began to talk to my dad. I was glad that she didn't even try to find out what's wrong. Maybe she's been in this situation before? I decided not to dive deeper into the thought as I looked out of the window again.

Despite the town having this friendly atmosphere and all, I didn't want to get too comfortable. I still hated moving and I was determined that nothing would change my mind about it.

"Hey, kids, get your stuff ready. This is the place."

I snapped out of my trance as dad called. It looked like we were there already. Not wanting to get in trouble for that day, I followed with what I was told to do and began to dump some of my stuff back into my backpack. As soon as everything was ready, I slung the pack over my shoulder, opened the door and looked at where we were going to stay. That's when my jaw hit the ground.

Right before me was an ordinary two-storey house with a completely _whacked_ out satellite system on its roof. It was like a UFO decided to land on a small fragile helipad of some sort. That wasn't it. There was a huge sign with brightly-colored neon lights that says "Fenton Works" and at the bottom of the words was an arrow pointing to the building.

"_**THIS **_is where were staying?" I cried out loud. "It looks freaking ridiculous! Are you sure it isn't the house beside it?"

My dad shot a don't-you-dare-say-another-word look at me as he walked towards the truck which carried most of our stuff. My mom was still inside the car, helping Lilia pack her things. I gulped with great difficulty because I knew that I had to be the first one to go inside the space-themed house. I walked towards the building as fast as I possibly could while silently praying that no one was looking this way. As I stood at the front door, I looked up again. I felt a bit intimidated by the size of the house. As I took a deep breath, I pressed on the doorbell.

As I waited for a moment, I noticed that there was a bit of chattering from behind the door. It took a few more seconds before the door finally swung open. That was when I found myself staring at someone I didn't expect.

It was a girl. She looked about my age and my height. She had a pair of thick-rimmed glasses as she stared at me with her dark green eyes. Her long honey-colored hair framed her face and flowed all the way to her chest level. She had on her a sky blue shirt with a light pink sweater. She wore a pair of faded jeans and a pair of pink sneakers with its color fading from age. She looked right into my eyes with suspicion before she said, "Hello, may I help you with something?"

I stared at her a little longer before I shook my head and replied, "Sorry. My family and I are moving here. Is this the right place?"

At that moment, the girl's eyes lit up in recognition. "So you're the relatives of Mr. and Mrs. Fenton," she exclaimed with excitement, "I'm a bit surprised because I didn't expect you guys to come until some other time. Please come in. I'm Toni by the way and your name is…"

"Jason Fenton. Just Jason, really."

She nodded and began leading me into the house. Upon entering the place, I noticed that the house had better interior decoration than its exterior. There were a number of family pictures that were displayed on the walls and on the shelves. The living room was a step lower than the rest of the room and in it was a small TV and baby blue sofas facing towards it. Like the sofa, most of the furniture was a shade of blue and they were arranged in a way that made it look somewhere between the classic and the modern style. It was rather simplistic but not in a bad way.

Toni soon led me into the kitchen. As I turned my attention towards the dining table, I noticed that there were a couple of old people I didn't even recognize. One of them was a chubby old man eating a tray of brownies. He has deep cobalt eyes, wore a worn out orange spandex suit and most of his white hair was gone. The other was reading a book entitled _A Guide to Identifying Species_. She seemed like a kind woman with a pair of turquoise eyes. Upon a closer look, anyone would have noticed a wise twinkle in them. She wore a simple blue dress and resting on her nose was a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, look who just arrived."

The old couple both looked up from what they were doing and focused their attention on me. I tried to avoid their gaze but it didn't do anything to avert their eyes to anything else.

"Hey, Toni," said the elder man, "Who's the kid?"

I didn't know how to explain myself. I was about to open my mouth before I felt a pair of hands touch my face. I looked up and saw the woman's eyes boring into mine. She suddenly smiled in recognition as she locked me in a tight embrace.

"Honey, its Jason," the old woman exclaimed as soon as she let me go.

"Jason!" the man said as he stood up with much enthusiasm, "I haven't seen you since you were a little baby. Where's your father? I can't wait to hear what my son's gonna share after all these years."

"He's just outside. He's helping them carry our stuff here, actually," I replied as I pointed to the door behind me.

Without a second to spare, my grandfather dashed out of the room, leaving me with my grandmother and Toni. After a few moments of silence, my grandma turned to me and said, "It's nice to see you again while you're all grown-up as well. You can stay in your father's old room. The place was prepared especially for you."

"Thanks Gran..."

"Please, just call me Maddie. It's short for Madeline," she said with a wink, "I better get going before my husband squeezes the life out of your father."

As she left, I could only stare at the spot where she stood. What was that all about? I couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed with what just happened. I looked behind me to see Toni looking at the exact same place I was looking.

"They're nice folks, aren't they?"

I stared at her. I couldn't even answer but Toni just kept on talking.

"I'm rather happy that you guys are moving in here. I really am. They didn't stop talking about your family's arrival for days. They seemed quite lonely even if I visit them most of the time. To tell you the truth, I'm the only company they've got. None of their children visit. Your aunts can't come and your dad is too far away. I'm sure you know that Florida is a long way from here knowing that you just came from there."

After a few moments, she looked at me and said, "Do you want me to show your room?"

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><p>No sooner than five minutes, we were both in my dad's old room. Like downstairs, most of the stuff here were blue. The only things that made up for the bland color were the posters of spaceships and "Humpty Dumpty" and the planetary mobile that hung by the window. A rusty basketball hoop hung above the door and the shelves were completely empty. On the side desk was a small replica of the NASA space shuttle. It was probably not meant to be touched judging by how much dust had covered it compared to the cleaned up room. Once I was done with checking out the place, I flung my backpack on the floor and collapsed on top of the bed.<p>

"Finally, something I can rest on comfortably!"

"Rough trip, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it."

Toni looked rather amused by my action as she promptly walked towards the bed and sat beside me. Admittedly, I blushed a bit. I don't have a crush on her or anything but I probably just realized that this was the closest I've been to a girl. I avoided all the girls in my old school because they knew I was filthy rich and stuff. She, on the other hand, didn't know. At the same time, she didn't feel awkward about her action. I guess Toni has been the 'one-of-the-guys' type.

"So, now that I finally got to meet the mysterious grandson personally," she said with a tone of cheerfulness, "I hope you don't mind if I invite you for a walk around town tomorrow. Amity Park is a beautiful place and it would be best if you knew it better."

I avoided eye contact as I replied back. "No, I don't think I could go. I still have a major headache from the trip and they might need my help unpacking our things."

"Ah, I see," she said with a nod, "So I guess we'll have to do it some other time. So whenever you feel like it, just tell me. I visit your grandparents every other day and I can be some help in moving your things here so that you could be free even faster."

I could only stare at this girl in awe. Well, there goes my excuse on never coming out of this house. I don't want to see this place at all and I want to be alone. As much as I wanted to reject her offer, I just couldn't. She was a family friend and she's just trying to be friendly unlike most people I've met. I sighed.

"Yeah, thanks. I guess it's been stressful with the whole moving thing lately so it would be great if you lend a hand."

Toni beamed at me and patted me at my shoulder. "I like you already," she laughed, "I expected you to be one of those emo types buuuuuut I guess you proved me wrong with the way your face just turned red."

I felt my face heat up. "I am not turning red!" I exclaimed.

"Says your face. It's about to go tomato now."

I was about to protest but then I heard my dad call out for me.

"Jason, can you please come down? We still need to get those boxes out of the van."

Before I responded, Toni quickly interjected and said, "Ok, Mr. Fenton. We'll be on our way down." I glared at her as she stood up.

"Um, excuse me. Are you Jason?" I said sarcastically.

"Nope," Toni said with a smile, "but it would be nice to be introduced to your folks. Let's go."

As I watched her go out the door, I sighed. Whatever just happened, I could tell it wasn't the last time I'd be facing the likes of her.

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><p><em>HA! TSUNDERE JASON! That's a side I've never seen before.<em>

Jason: SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE! I just didn't feel comfortable around girls at that time.

_Right, right… Have it your way~_

Jason: *facepalm* Ok, guys. Just ignore my crazy creator and review this thing.

_P.S. For those who know me in deviantart, I won't be able to update it until some other time. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. _


	3. Chapter 3

_See? The outline works!_

Jason: Oh sure, Specs, let's celebrate. Can we do it by going back to this story?

_Sarcasm kills, you know. Anyways, I guess you guys could tell which is mine and which isn't, right? Ok then. Onward!_

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><p>So, nothing really happened in the first five days here in Amity Park. We just kept on unpacking our boxes and placing them in our rooms. My sister got the room that is said to belong to my younger aunt's while mom and dad both stayed in the extra bedroom in the big UFO thingy. Whenever we stopped and rested, my parents would talk about our lives back at Florida while my grandparents talked about what they did here. I took no interest in being part of the conversation and resided to staying in my room, still unpacking my own stuff. I was able to bring out all my sketchbooks and coloring materials and place them on the now empty shelves. The posters were now taken down by my dad, much to my relief, and my comics and mangas were yet to be stacked and arranged neatly. On other days, that Toni girl would visit and help us with the moving but I, being me, locked myself in my room when she came. Still not used to girls yet.<p>

On the sixth day of my stay, it was Friday and all our things were already out. My mom allowed me to rest in my room that morning and I was much obliged. I hated working as much as I hated being in a crowd. For almost two hours, I kept on sketching out my ideas. I thought I would be able to finish them today since I had all the time in my hands but that was before someone burst into the room. The pencil fell off my hand as I turned towards the door, my eyes widening from shock. By the door was Toni, looking at me like I was a cornered mouse.

"Jason, it's been five days and you haven't decided if you want the tour or not."

I groaned at my stupidity. I had completely forgotten to lock the door at that time because I was so into my drawing. I picked up my pencil, trying to form an excuse in my mind.

"Uh, I'm sorry," I replied as I looked up, "I'm really not in the mood to see the place and…"

"Yeah, you're just never in the mood, are you?" Toni stated as she rolled her eyes, "I stayed around yesterday and listened to your parents talk about you. It seems like you never want to leave your room from what I heard."

"No, I… wait, what?" I felt flushed. She sounded like she was stalking me or something just by listening to my parents. Heck, I wondered why she even bothered to listen to them in the first place!

As I just stared at her in shock, Toni walked up to me and with every word she emphasized, she poked my forehead. "**You**, Mr. Fenton, will **go** and **see** Amity Park no matter **how much** you **hate **to go out."

I swatted her hand away, annoyed with her now. Forget stalkers. She was just insane enough to make me leave my room.

"Sorry but I really don't want to go anywhere but here. So if you could be kind enough to leave me in peace, I'd be more grateful."

At the corner of my eye, I saw Toni turn towards the door. I smiled to myself with satisfaction. I thought she was going to leave me alone…

"Gotcha!"

… but she proved me wrong by swiftly turning around and snatching my sketchbook from under my nose. Literally, it hit my nose.

"Ow! Why you…"

She teasingly winked at me as she ran towards the window. I tried to leap from my chair but my foot got caught at the end of my jeans so I tripped in the process. Scrambling to get onto my feet, I watched in horror as she placed the sketchbook right outside the window. She looked at me as her grip around my sketchbook threateningly loosened. I could only stare, unable to move.

"Toni," I said as calmly as I could, "that's my sketchbook. I swear to God I will kill you if you ever let that go."

Toni smirked, her hidden intent clearly seen in her eyes. I didn't like the look of them. She swung my sketchbook in her hand as she said, "You can have your sketchbook back. Just promise that you'll grab that jacket of yours and go out to see town."

I snorted unintentionally. This girl just landed herself in the insane list permanently. I then tried to stop looking annoyed because she lowered the sketchbook further. After burying my face in my palm, I mumbled a few inaudible words I could not say out loud. Toni raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?" she asked as she lowered the sketchbook once more.

"I said that I'm going," I muttered in defeat. Satisfied with my reply, Toni tossed my sketchbook at my bed. I glared at her as I picked it up. She made her way to the door as she grabbed my jacket and tossed it to my face.

"C'mon, Mr. Artist," she mocked me, "I have to tell your parents that I was able to get you out of this place."

Huh, it figures why she was so persistent.

* * *

><p>"See, it wasn't that bad."<p>

Rolling my eyes, I muttered under my breath, "It's only a matter of opinion."

It was around eleven thirty in the morning and she was able to introduce to me more than half of the town. We already passed by the local mall, the post office, the town hall. Everything that was new or old. She was able to name every street we passed by. If anything, she knew the place like the back of her hand. As she toured me around, I didn't try to soak in all the information. I also placed my hood over my head to prevent her from seeing my bored face. I really didn't feel like memorizing the whole town. I just wanted to get back to my drawing.

"So," Toni said as she spun around and began walking backwards, "Are you enjoying yet or are you still being a stick in the mud?"

"Well, you forced me out. How do expect me to enjoy if I told you I wasn't in the mood?"

Toni shrugged. "You have to love the place in one way or another. You'll be staying here for the next four years of your life."

"I know," I said as my eyes traveled for a bit. I soon caught a glimpse of a local restaurant. I was about to turn my attention away from it but I then noticed Toni walking towards it.

"Well, I know how to lighten your mood," she said, "Let's eat."

As I watched her lead the way, I sighed since there was no other choice but to follow her in. Walking towards the place, I was able to swallow every detail in. The name of the resto was _Spook's Café._ Right beside its name was a ghost with its tail curling underneath it. Outside were a bunch of white umbrellas that were used to prevent sunlight from hitting the table and the tables and chairs were alternately black and white. When we entered, the tables and chairs were pretty much the same as the outside. The theme of the place was obviously about ghosts, judging by the wallpaper, the name of the food on the advertisements, and the other bits of accessories. Even with its ridiculousness, this seemed like a popular eatery for teens judging by their number here.

Toni then led me to a seat near the windows and said, "So, what would you like to order?"

I looked down at the menu before I said, "I guess I'll just have their spaghetti."

"Ok, the 'Bloody Worms'? I'll just get 'Spook's Burger'. I'll be right back."

As she turned and left for the counter, I simply turned and looked about. I noticed that I was getting some weird looks from the other teens in here, leaving me a bit uncomfortable as I pulled on my hood closer to my face. I knew that I was the new kid in town and they probably realized that as well. The thing all new kids hated, I noticed, are first impressions. I swear that I still remember one back in my old school and he screwed up on his first day. Ever since then, he was known to be the 'Walking Disaster'. Harsh, I know, but I guess that's life. Now I'm just worried about mine.

As I began to fiddle with the zipper of my jacket, Toni came back with a tray in her hand.

"And it is served," she said as she placed the tray on the table. She then passed the flimsy Styrofoam box to me before she got her burger.

The first few minutes of eating was spent in silence. I don't know why though. Maybe she felt the pressure of the stares around us. After waiting for a bit, I then decided to break it.

"So," I muttered awkwardly as I poked a meatball with my fork, "how long have you known my grandparents? When I first came, I thought it was pretty weird that you knew them better than I did."

Toni smiled at that after placing her burger down and wiping her mouth. "Well, I've known them around last year. They were cool enough to let me in their home when it was raining so hard outside. They even contacted my parents when I gave their number and informed them that I was fine. I've been visiting them ever since that day."

I paused for a while a thought. Then I proceeded with my next question. "Besides my grandparents, don't you have any friends around here? You've been very friendly with me and all but…"

Before I even finished my sentence, I noticed that Toni glared at the ground. That left me in a shock since I've always seen her so bubbly. She then replied coldly, "You don't need to know everything about me."

I could only stare at that moment. What could make her this upset? I remained silent for a while but Toni seemed to change her mood almost immediately and said, "Ok, my turn. Why did you bring your backpack? All you have inside it are a bunch of art stuff and a sketchbook."

It took a while to process what she said before I replied. "Oh, yeah. My art stuff," I mumbled, "Well, I guess I could never leave home without it. I prefer to draw stuff in my house but I bring it with me just in case I have an idea in my head."

"Cool. May I look?"

I bit my lip while I held onto my backpack. I was hesitant. I know she wanted to look at it but I don't really like to show off my sketches. You could say that most of them were… kinda private. That even includes my fanart.

"I don't know," I said as I unconsciously placed the backpack at my side. "I never even show any of them ever since…"

"Don't be such a sissy pants," she said with a smile, "I promise I won't make fun of it."

Mentally slapping myself, I got the sketchbook out. I guessed that it wouldn't hurt if I showed some of them, right?

Once the sketchbook was in her hands, she immediately flipped through. I waited for any rude comments from her but instead, she gasped in amazement.

"Wow, I never knew you had this in you," Toni said as she flipped through page after page, "I've seen other stuff online but this…"

"It isn't really much," I said as I looked away.

"You're kidding me. Seriously, I couldn't beat you even after years of practice."

I felt blood flow to my face as I looked at the sketchbook in her hand. I had to admit, she was right. I hate to brag but most of my sketches were quite detailed for anyone who draws in my age. Realistic and anime were drawn all over its pages and even some contained complete works. There was even a bunch of concept art at the corner. I wouldn't like the call myself some sort of master but I still think I could use a bit more practice.

"Thanks," I muttered, "This is the second time I've shown it to anybody outside my family."

"Really? Why?"

I sighed as a leaned against the chair. "I don't really wanna talk about and…"

"Hey, I know this guy."

I then sat up straight and leaned closer to the drawing Toni had pointed out. It was quite a rough pencil sketch but it was clear that it was a drawing of a teen about my age. He had messy hair and a spandex suit that was similar to my grandfather but it was simply black and white with certain shades of gray to show lighting. His eyes were intense, as if he was ready to face an enemy that was hidden in the shadows. Smudged pencil marks on his hands indicated the smoke coming out of it. As I looked at the drawing, I felt a small tug at the side of my mouth.

"Yeah, Danny Phantom," I said, "My dad used to tell me about him all the time when I was young. He told me that he lived right here in Amity Park and told me he protected this place, and the world, several times."

"Wow, you seem to know a lot about him," Toni said as she kept on staring at the drawing.

"Yeah, he's probably my childhood. The funny thing was that I used to believe him as real but he's just nothing more than a fairytale."

Right at that moment, Toni slammed her fist on the table, almost making me jump. "No he's not; he's as real as you'll ever be!"

"Toni, calm down," I said as I looked around to see if people were staring before I glared at her, "You're taking this Danny Phantom thing to seriously."

"Of course I am. That's because he is real. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton…"

"… Are my dad's parents and must've told him all about him when he was little."

"No, it's more than that. It's…"

"Toni, please. Do I have to say it twice?"

"Jason, I…"

"End of discussion, ok? Danny Phantom is out of sight and out of mind. Can we move on?"

Toni's shoulder seemed to tense. I felt a little guilty but I just don't want to talk about Phantom. Ever. Sure, I might draw him one-fifth of the time but that's it. It stops right there.

"Fine," Toni said as she folded her arms, "but I just believe in him, ok? Call me crazy if you want but the way Mr. and Mrs. Fenton said all his stories like they were really personal, you know? Also, they're ghost hunters and…"

"Whoa, hold onto that. Did you just say ghost hunters?" I asked as my curiosity was tugged upon.

"What, you didn't know? Jeez, I expected you to be better than that," Toni said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, they're ghost hunters. It would be pretty obvious with your grandfather since he wears that spandex all the time. Both of them had retired but that doesn't stop them from building one thing after another."

"Did they catch a ghost by any chance?"

"I don't know. Every time Mr. Fenton wants to tell something about it, Mrs. Fenton stops him. I don't know why but it seems like they want the ghost thing here in Amity Park to die down."

"Die down?" I said as I a bit leaned closer.

"Well, it's my theory. I checked out several sites related to this town and this place used to be a literal ghost town, according to many of them. Funnily, most of the folks here don't care about spirits existing anymore. Some of them still do. A perfect example is the owner of this place," she said as she looked around the restaurant.

"Ok, it's cool and all but come on. They could probably be hoaxes like the classic alien report on the radio."

"Could be, could be not. Anything is possible."

I sighed. My curiosity about this place multiplied at least by a hundred times. You know how those geeks enjoy those theories and sightings of the paranormal? Yeah, I'm probably one of them. I just had to find a hobby that uses the internet.

"You feeling alright, Jason?"

"Hm? Oh… yeah, whatever. Too much in my mind."

She nodded. "It's alright. I just hope you're not tired yet. We still have to go to the park where this place was named after."

As soon as we finished up our lunch, we both went out of the restaurant and started to make our way towards the park. She told me it was still across town and it takes a while to go there from the restaurant.

On our way, we talked about several things. Even if she was annoying at first, I guess she was pretty cool for a girl. When we were close to the park, I noticed that Toni gave me a glance and then looked away immediately. I caught her doing so.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing," she said as she looked onto the ground. "We're almost there anyway."

"Oh, sure. Why did this park have to be… ARGH!"

Right at that moment, a burst of pain came from my chest. It was almost like electricity was surging through my heart. I clutched onto my chest, sweat suddenly forming on my forehead. I faltered for a second but just as the feeling came, it went.

"Jason, what just happened? Are you alright?" Toni said as she held onto me for support.

"I don't know. It felt like a heart burn," I said as I still held onto my chest. Whatever it was, I knew it wasn't normal. I may be a weak kid but walking for so long wouldn't exhaust me easily. I took in a deep breath and tried to get back to my normal posture. Before I did, I caught something move in the corner of my eye. I slowly looked to my right. When I looked up, I saw a small abandoned building. There were multiple cracks on the wall and the paint on it was beginning to peel off. The sign above the entrance was no more since every word had faded away, as if it was forgotten. The old canvas was ripped and shredded and the atmosphere about it made every hair in my body stand. I stared at the place for what felt like five seconds before I saw something move again. Right around the door leading to the back of the place, a pair of eyes was staring right at me from the darkness. When the mysterious figure moved into the light, I was shocked to see who it was.

A little girl.

* * *

><p><em>Hooray! Now we are done with Chapter 3! The next chapter is probably my favorite one. So I hope you guys review for a faster update! :D<em>

Jason: And pelt her with tomatoes if she fails to do so.

_OnO_


	4. Chapter 4

_Before we move on, I'd like to share some fun facts about the previous chapter. Originally, I was supposed to make Toni see the girl first but… it didn't seem right. I had to make Jason see her instead. XD_

Jason: Sure, torture me like that. Why did you change it?

_All for the plot, my dear Jason. Also, remember that I don't own anybody except my characters. Now enjoy!_

* * *

><p>It seemed like forever. The girl's dull eyes were freaking me out. Not wanting to look at her much longer, I quickly looked away. Even if I did, I could still feel her cold glare on me.<p>

"Jason, what's wrong?"

I jolted a bit, completely forgetting that Toni was there. She gave me a look of concern while my mind was still on the girl who was in the building.

"Hello, are you ok? Snap out of it," she said as she waved her hand in front of my face. I pushed it away, looking at her seriously in the eye.

"There's a girl," I said in a hurried whisper, "She's over there in the building."

"A girl?" Toni asked curiously as she turned towards the direction I was gesturing at. She stared at the building for a few good seconds. After she did, she turned back to me with her eyebrows creased with worry.

"Jason, there's nobody there…"

"WHAT?"

I spun around. Sure enough, she was right. The girl had disappeared.

Toni placed a comforting hand on my shoulder as I looked at her with my eyes wide. "Ok, maybe those Danny Phantom stories your dad told is getting into your head right now," she said, "C'mon, I can take you home. The park can…"

"NO!"

I immediately pushed her hand away while she looked at me with a horrified expression. I knew that there was a girl inside. I just knew it. When I looked in Toni's face, I felt anger bubbling at the pit of my stomach. She didn't believe me.

"Toni, I swear. I saw her. I just don't make things up."

"But that building has been abandoned for years now," Toni explained, "No one can just enter this place. Not even a little girl."

"So what do I care? I saw one and I'm going in to prove it."

"Jason, wait, don't…"

I didn't give heed to her words and blindly walked towards the building. I didn't even bother to check if Toni was following or not. I'm not hallucinating and I wanted to be clear on that.

As I pushed the door wide open, I looked around the place and noticed that it was pretty empty. The only things that this place contained was dust coated shelves and the stench of molding paint. There was no little girl in sight but there was a door leading to the back side of the building. She could have hidden there. I was about to walk towards that door before a small voice calling after me.

"Jason…"

When I turned around, I saw Toni standing by the entrance. She looked extremely scared now. It looked like she wanted to follow after me but she seemed too nervous to even walk inside. After a moment, she begged shakily, "You have to get out of here now. I don't like the look of this place. Let's put this whole little girl thing behind and…"

"I'm not leaving," I said firmly as looked at her straight into the eyes. "It's alright if you don't want to go further inside but keep an eye out for her. I'll explore the back."

Toni stared at me with her eyes wide. After what seemed to be a moment of hesitation, she nodded.

"Promise that you won't do anything stupid in there," she said, "I wouldn't know what to say to your parents if you hurt yourself badly."

The side of my lips twitched. She seemed to try so hard to keep her sense of humor up. As I nodded in reply, she said, "I'll just wait here, ok?"

"You do that," I muttered inaudibly. Once it was over with, I faced the door once again. After taking in one deep breath, I tried to go towards the room as silently as I could. I didn't want to scare this girl away. Well, she may have had the guts to go in a deserted place like this but still. When I made it to the entrance, I placed my hand on the wall to look for a light switch. I silently hoped for this place to at least have a bit of electricity left. I found one switch but when I flicked it on, a light bulb flickered a bit before it died completely. I sighed to myself and brought out my cellphone instead. It may not be much but it gave off enough light to see a few things.

"Hello," I called out. "Are you in here?"

I was only answered by my own echo. I shuddered a bit and continued to walk forward. Toni was right. There was something about this place that felt off. Still, I was stubborn enough to shut off those feelings. I then went forward and began to further investigate the room. I shed my cellphone's light on the ground as I went deeper into the room but I couldn't see any possible footprints left in the dust. I temporarily looked back to see how far the door was because it felt impossibly farther away from me. It might've been a trick of the mind or something but, mind you, it was a hard feeling to shake off.

I ventured further. A few minutes of looking around made me realize that the room was bigger than it had seemed. It looked like some mini-warehouse compared to the simple store I thought it was. That's when it hit me. If this **was **a store, what the heck did it sell?

I walked towards to the closest shelf and checked for any sign of what used to be there. To my surprise, the shelf was full. Surprised with this, I investigated the following row of shelves. One after the other, I saw that there were toys all over the place. All of them neatly aligned like there was someone who watched after them all this time. Like there was someone here.

"Weird. Toni said that this was abandoned. If it is, then why…"

Before I finished my sentence, the door slammed shut. My heart began to pound against my chest and my hands began to tremble uncontrollably as I saw myself surrounded by nothing but darkness. I'm not usually the type to be afraid of the dark but I was in an abandoned building for crying out loud. It was the worst place you'd want to be in. Panicking, I tried retracing my steps. In fifteen minutes, I discovered that I was making myself more lost in the maze of shelves and toys. Even my cellphone grew useless since it shut down when it lost its power.

"Shit," I muttered as I shook my phone even if I knew it was of no use, "This is totally not my day…"

As I tried fixing my cellphone, I heard a soft giggle. I looked around, narrowing my eyes a bit. Ok, I was pretty sure that someone was following me. Forgetting my cellphone, I called out, "Hey, show yourself."

More giggles filled the air. I felt steam pouring out of my ears now. This has to be the girl I was looking for and, damn, was she annoying.

"Show yourself, darn it!"

"Show yourself, darn it. Hihi…"

I jumped out of fright and quickly spun around towards the direction of the voice. It definitely sounded like the little girl I was looking for. Well, what I think she would sound like. She sounded innocent, almost angelic, but something about her voice made my skin crawl.

After a few more heart-stopping seconds, she spoke again.

"What are you doin' here, mister?"

My mouth went dry of words. I know I should not be afraid and at least try to look for her but I felt something inside me claw my guts, screaming not to trust a single word coming from her and to… attack?

"Wow, mister. You make funny faces. C'mon, you're not afraid of me, are you?"

"…No," I lied, finally finding the voice to speak. "W-why would I be afraid? Can we get this little joke over with and **let me out**?"

After a moment's pause, she spoke again.

"I like you," she giggled delightfully, "Do you want to be my new playmate?"

I gulped. I could see a faint light slowly appearing in front of me. Seconds passed and the faint light formed to a brighter and more distinct figure. When the transformation was complete, I was able to see her full appearance. She had curly blonde hair with a huge white bow that adorned the back of her head. Her puffy dress was so white but the hem of her dress was tattered and burnt. Her shoes were black and in her arms was a crudely stitched teddy bear. I might have mistaken her for a normal six year old girl but her eyes were glowing bright red and her skin was pale gray.

When the girl looked at me, she wore a small smile. I took a step back. I really wanted to run and scream at the top of my lungs but I was frozen in place. I just couldn't believe what stood in front of my very eyes at that very moment.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to play with me?"

The girl took one step closer to me. I still couldn't move so the girl took it as a sign that I was ok with her and began to **float **towards me. When she was close enough to touch me, she smiled and took my hand gently. That did it. The moment she touched my hands, a great chill ran down my spine and jolted all my senses to awaken. I was about to run away but the girl's grip suddenly tightened. I was surprised with her hidden strength.

"Please, let me go," I begged for mercy as I attempted to free myself. "I'm not here to play with you."

The girl's eyes began to glow dangerously bright as her grip began making my fingers numb. "Didn't you want to play? You came here with no stopping. I **saw **you!"

"Yeah but I didn't know that you're a…" I trailed off. The word that was supposed to come out didn't fit right. They're not supposed to exist. They're not supposed to be within my reach. It was all impossible. Still, the impossible was glaring at me.

"I. Hate. _**YOU**_!"

Before I knew it, I was hurled across the room like a simple rag doll and crashed into a shelf with a loud _CRACK_. When I landed on the ground_, _I groaned painfully as I held onto my head. I tried to escape but I couldn't see where I was with all the stars in my eyes. As I attempted to stand, I received a heavy blow at the stomach and doubled over, coughing violently. I must've looked pretty pathetic back then. I was so close to going black before the girl grabbed my throat and pinned me to the ground.

"Play with me now?" the girl asked once more, insanity filling up her eyes.

Choking for air, I tried to free myself from her iron grasp. She saw my attempt and her eyes grew wide with anger. "Why won't you **play**?"

With each passing second, I could feel my lungs beginning to fail me, my hands growing weak to fight against her grip and my senses going cold. When all seemed lost, a weird sensation overcame me. Before I realized what happened, I was able to breathe again and the girl's cold hands seemed to loosen around on my throat.

I immediately gasped for air; the girl backed away in surprise. She stared at me as if I was something new to her. I still lay on the ground, too exhausted to even move. After a moment, her eyes grew darker and she asked, "Are you human?"

As my chest began to rise and fall with every breath I took, I stared at her in silence. Not because I was tired this time but it was the fact that she asked me such a question. Of course I'm human. I'm still living, breathing, and feeling. I could feel a bit of my strength returning and I forced myself up to a sitting position. After I used the sleeve of my jacket to wipe off the blood that was dripping from the edge of my lip, I simply looked at her and said, "Sorry, I am one."

She still kept on staring at me with fascination. After a while, she said, "You look like one. You act like one but you are not one. I feel that you and I are no different…"

Right then and there, the door suddenly burst open. The daylight blinded me and I quickly shielded my eyes. In my peripheral view, I saw the girl vanishing again. I couldn't make out the situation at first but I heard someone cry out my name.

"Toni," I suddenly realized. She was getting herself in a heap of trouble for this. I tried to stand as fast as I could but the blows I received prevented me from moving at all. The effort I was exerting now weakened me and almost made me collapse but someone held onto my arms.

"Jason, what have you done? I told you not to do anything stupid but look at you! It was a good thing I was able to gather all my guts to get here."

I looked up and saw the horrified expression Toni wore. I know that she was worried for me but she didn't know how much danger we were both in if we didn't get out of there quick enough.

"Toni, we have to go, like, now," I moaned as I tried to stand up properly. I almost faltered from my weakened state but Toni quickly supported me.

"Hell yeah we do," she scolded, "You think I'm going to forgive you for scaring me like that? You are in so much trouble!"

"Toni, watch out!"

When I pointed towards the door, it was too late. Swallowed by darkness once again, I could feel Toni's entire body going ridged. I held onto to her tightly. We'll both die if we don't stick together.

"J-Jason, what's going on?" Toni asked me shakily. I only glared into the darkness.

"Just hold onto me," I assured her, "Everything will be fine if we…"

Suddenly, Toni disappeared by my side. Without anything to support me, I fell on the floor.

"JASON!"

As her shrill cry pierced my eardrums, I felt my heart drop. This wasn't supposed to happen. I slowly looked up, only to see the little girl smiling at me while trapping Toni in her arms.

"You're such a pathetic little plaything," the girl mocked me. "I thought you would be fun but I was wrong. I wonder if this girl would be any better?"

Toni screamed louder as the girl began to suffocate her. Time froze for me. It was all happening too fast. This was supposed to be a regular walk around town but how did it end up in this terrible mess? In my mind, I silently prayed to whatever God up there to help me. I didn't want to be a useless piece of crap, watching my friend slowly die. _Shit, shit, shit, _I thought, _what the heck am I supposed to do?_ I closed my eyes tightly, knowing that both of us will die here…

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

… but my eyes flew open. Toni was looking at me, desperately trying to escape as the girl was close to finishing her off. I glared at the girl. Something within me finally snapped and gave me some sort of weird energy I couldn't even describe. Slowly, I tried to stand up. First on my knees and hands, then I found my footing. I looked up and saw the girl look at me in surprise. In her state of shock, her grip loosened around Toni while Toni collapsed onto the ground, trying to catch her breath.

"Your eyes," the girl cried as she looked at me, "They changed color. You can't be…"

I stood up, wobbling a little, as I kept on glaring at her. The girl slightly took a step back. She and I were in a temporary trance, staring into each other's eyes. Finally, I broke the silence.

"Let us go, kid. I don't even know what you want with us but you have to let us go."

The girl smirked in my direction. She probably knew where I was going with this conversation. "I am not just a kid. I am Alice," she replied, "Only Alice. If you want to be set free, all you have to do is play one game with me."

My eyes narrowed. So that's it. I just have to play this game with her. I don't know if I could be able to win against her. She had some insane strength and I don't know what else she could do. Still, I had to try to win.

"So, what are the rules then?"

"Well, I like to keep my game interesting," she chuckled. "We play, keep each other at our toes and you try to survive. The ultimate objective is to reach the door within thirty minutes. When you fail, well, you become my playmate for the rest of your lifetime."

I gulped. This is a huge risk I was taking here.

"Are there any exceptions to the game?" I asked, hoping for a fair fight.

"Well, for humans, I don't use my powers at all. I'm just like a weak little girl to them so that's why most manage to escape..."

I smirked. _So she'll hold back her powers, _I thought to myself, _I could save Toni._

"Then let's play it then," I said, accepting her challenge.

"…but," Alice said, smiling at me, "I won't hold my powers back on you."

"WHAT?" I yelled at her, "You said you'll give humans a fighting chance!"

Alice was playing me into a trap. I was foolish not to see it before. Smiling at me playfully, she said, "Ah, but it would be unfair on my part. You may be human now but your eyes tell me otherwise. So, are we going to play this game…"

I fearfully looked at her. She can't be serious about this. How can I match up with her? She almost choked me to death for gosh sake.

"…as equals?"

Equals? The word echoed in the room. She and I were equals? _Shit, she's just playing with my mind,_ I thought to myself. _NO, it's the truth,_ came a dangerous voice from the back of my head,_ She's telling the truth. You know it, Jason. You could feel it._

I looked down at my hands. They were trembling now.

_Didn't you feel the energy that coursed through you earlier, _it said again, _You can do it, Jason._

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to believe what I was thinking. This voice knew the truth. I knew it was the truth. I just knew it.

_So what will I do now?_

I took in a deep breath. This voice. All this time. This voice was the truth_  
><em>

_Change.  
><em>

A bright light consumed me. Before I know what was going on, I screamed.

* * *

><p><em>Aw, man. I hope you guys enjoyed that! Seriously, this is a hard chapter to write. It's hard to keep the story flowing at this point.<em>

Jason: Yeah, whatever Specs. You were too lazy to get this thing moving along because of Homestuck, Adventure Time, Pewdiepie, Tobuscus, Avengers, Spiderman…

_Let's not get carried away, you imbecilic little cutie. Speaking of which, I found Jason's voice: www . youtube watch?v=DjNisadPbow_

_I also want you guys to try and read this other awesome next generation fic. - _s/5783915/1/

_Seriously, read it. You won't regret it one bit. :3_

_And with that, I ask thee to leave a review. I know you want to because of my alluring voice~_

Jason: They don't know what you sound like. It's like a…

_SHHHHH. They don't have to know._


	5. Chapter 5

_Ok, this officially had to be my favorite chapter ever. Seriously, as I typed it, I could hardly breathe. I love these self discovery chapters! X3_

Jason: Ok, you had your fun but it was a huge pain in the butt if you were in my situation.

_Silly Jason, you're simply a character of my story so I do as I please._

Jason: Grrr…

_**IMPOTANT: **By the way, the rules of Alice's game had changed. Thirty minutes for Jason to escape her clutches. Anyways, Danny Phantom characters belong to Butch Hartman while the rest belong to me._

* * *

><p>I was embraced by bitter coldness; it was almost like plunging into arctic waters. At the same time, I felt something course through me. It felt raw and different, and it was too strong to even push back. I tried to fight against it but it was no use. It was as if this thing was longing to be free; as if it was trapped. After the sensation had passed, I tried to look up but I couldn't. I was blinded by the light that had consumed me earlier; a light with no discernible origin. My hands were a bit shaky. My legs were rock stiff. My mind was hazy. I didn't know what was going.<p>

"Perfect," I heard a voice echoing somewhere in the darkness, "You think you can just go and hide among the humans? What a terrible way to be a ghost."

_Ghost? _

I shook my head side to side. Nothing was processing right. I must be hallucinating.

"No? Pitiful, you must not know it then. It is a shame for any ghost to be among the human kind."

"You-you've got it all wrong. Can't you see I'm human?" I managed to say. I noticed the strange new echo in my voice. It was calm but powerful. I decided that it was nothing.

A childish laughter filled the air. "Fool, can't you see what you are?"

I then heard something clatter onto the ground. With my vision still blurred, I kneeled in order to find the object she threw at me. After my hand had finally landed onto something cold, I brought it closer to my face. It felt like some sort of metal object with jagged edges. Slowly but surely, I was able to focus my vision. It was no surprise to see a metal sheet in my hand but it was definitely a surprise to see what was staring back at me.

He looked like some sort of mutant. He had long and messy white hair and a pair of glowing green eyes. Also, there was this soft, white aura that was being emitted from him. As I stared into the metal sheet, I began to observe that he was copying my every movement. Afraid, I touched the metal sheet. He followed the same action. I covered my mouth in shock. He followed suit. When I realized what had happened, I immediately threw the metal sheet away and quickly moved backwards. I knew who he was. I just knew.

That thing in the metal sheet, it was _**ME**_.

"No… NO! This can't be me. This is all just a horrible dream," I cried out, particularly to whatever force that made me this way. As my panic grew, I didn't notice that my left arm had started to grow lighter. When I finally did feel the tingling sensation, I fell backwards. I quickly looked at my left arm to see what had happened and, to my complete shock, saw that my arm had gone **THROUGH** the floor. I pulled my arm out of the ground immediately and looked at it. I could still see my hand but it was translucent, able to see bits of the floor through it.

"Wha-what's happening to me?" I muttered to myself. In my fear, my mind began to form things that could explain what I had become, each theory more horrible than the last. I couldn't help it, my imagination was too vivid.

In the middle of panic, a cold hand had landed on my face and forcefully made me look up. As it did, I found myself staring into Alice's crimson eyes. "How blind are you? You're a ghost, not a human," Alice said with her eyes growing dangerously bright.

"A ghost?" I mumbled like a lost child.

"Yes, this is what you are," she said, gesturing towards herself. My heart, or whatever is in my chest now, fell. As the words slowly sunk into my brain, I felt another scary idea coming along with it.

_So if I'm like her, does this mean I'm…_

…_I'M DEAD?_

I wanted to deny it all, like I always would, but no, it wasn't the case. I was glowing, I was cold, and I was scared. I would've believed in anything, even in Santa Claus. As Alice looked upon my horrified face, a smile crept on her lips. Satisfied, she moved away from me. When we were just two feet apart, her hands began to glow. "Since we have everything cleared up," Alice said, her eyes suddenly turning manic, "you're mine."

When she lifted her tiny hands into the air, strange things began to happen. Shelves began to shake violently as toys flew out of their spot. As more of them began to gather and swirl around her, Alice pointed her finger at me and whispered a simple yet frightening command.

"Capture him."

Just like that, they stopped swirling and fell around her. Suddenly, the gravity of the situation hit me when one of the toys twitched. It was a small, generic teddy bear. When it looked up, I saw nothing but its cruel red eyes looking back at me. Soon, all the other toys followed its lead and they soon began to turn into an army of mini-zombies. I would've simply shrugged this off if it was a movie but this was real. There was no screen to separate us.

"You'd better run, my little playmate," Alice said cheerfully.

Almost immediately, I stood up and ran. When I did, it was as if every toy in the storage had come to life. Everywhere I turned, there would be toys grabbing my feet, pulling my leg or trying to reaching out from their hiding spot. Even a toy car managed to make me trip. If that didn't help, my new found powers contributed to me being nearly caught twice. One was when my legs disappeared. I had to stop and force it to turn back to normal. I even punched the side of my thighs in the hopes to turn it back. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the toys that were just behind my back. It was almost too late before I finally saw them and ran away again, ignoring my invisible legs. Fortunately, they turned back to normal in five minutes or so. Second was when my chest hurt. I don't know what caused to the pain but when I looked up, I saw Alice standing in front of me with most of the toys standing behind her.

"Dead end," she said with a smile. She lifted her arms and created a wave-like attack made out of toys. As I saw this, I turned on my heels and ran as fast as I could. I didn't notice how fast I was running because when I looked back, she was gone. As I struggled through the maze of shelves, I had officially decided I had lost my mind. This was insanity. I couldn't possibly escape this hellish nightmare. It didn't help when Alice began singing nursery rhymes that wrecked my train of thought.

"Two blind mice, two blind mice. See how they run, see how they run," Alice's voice teased me as it echoed through the darkness.

Even at my panic, I was suddenly confused. _Two blind mice? What did she mean by…?_

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"TONI!" I yelled at the direction of her voice. I had completely forgotten about her. I didn't even know how she managed to move after Alice had nearly choked her to death. Still, I had no time to question why. My mind raced. I had to get to her quick. In order to do that, I needed time to think. I walked towards what seemed like a good hiding spot and rested there, leaning against one of the empty shelves. Before I was even given the chance to come up with an idea, I felt a tingling sensation run through me. It took me time to realize what it was before I had hit the floor. When I tried standing up again, I cursed at my new found ability. Actually, I cursed at everything I was mad at.

"Agh, stupid, stupid, STUPID!" I yelled, "Of all the days when I thought I would have a normal me-time, Toni just dragged me out of the house and now look at where we are? I'm running around like a hooligan while trying to save both Toni's and my butts. If that's not bad enough I have…"

When it hit me, I realized I was so stupid that I immediately placed the palm of my hand on my face. I just remembered that I could go through stuff now. If I could try to control this ability, even for a while, I could get to Toni faster compared to navigating through this maze.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus as much as possible. "C'mon, c'mon," I muttered angrily to myself, trying to imagine the tingling sensation I felt earlier. For the first few minutes, nothing had happened. I couldn't concentrate because Toni's screams were making me more nervous and scared. When I had finally given up, I opened my eyes.

Big mistake.

At first, I really didn't feel any difference but when I tried standing up, something felt off. I looked down, only to realize that I was floating, so high up that I could see everything far below. I wobbled uncontrollably in the air, tumbling like a leaf in the wind. Trying to gain control, I 'swam' my way to a wall and grabbed onto the nearest pillar, clinging onto it like there was no tomorrow.

"Stay away from me! I don't want to play with you."

When I heard Toni's voice again, I scanned all over the place and tried to spot that honey-haired girl. Soon enough, I saw her backed into a corner with a broom in her hand as she began to hit one toy after another. In my point of view, she didn't look like she was going to win. Thinking quickly, I instinctively positioned myself into a crouching position against the wall, forgetting the fact that I was way up high since I only had one shot to getting her. I closed my eyes, silently praying that my powers would hold this off long enough. When I opened my eyes again, I looked at her, estimated how far she was and took the leap of faith.

"Toni, heads up!" I yelled as I flew towards her.

For a moment, Toni bore a confused look upon her face but her eyes widened when she saw me.

"What the…"

I grabbed her around the waist and, through some luck, she and I became intangible and it caused us to go to the other side of the shelf. Still holding onto her tightly, both of us violently tumbled across the floor─ rather painfully, might I add─ before we completely stopped. Coughing, Toni rubbed her eye before she looked up at me. I, on the other hand, was completely relieved to see that she was safe.

"Toni, you have no idea how…"

Before I finished my sentence, she punched me in the face.

"AGH, YOU… What the heck was that for?" I yelled angrily, immediately placing my hand over my nose.

Toni still looked scared out of her wits. She searched around for something until her eyes landed on the broom she had earlier. She grabbed it and got into a fighting position, pointing at me with its end.

"Stay back, I-I have a broom," Toni said as her voice shook uncontrollably.

"Toni, please," I muttered as I rubbed my nose, "put that thing down. The last thing you want to do is hurt me."

Toni seemed hesitant. She studied me for a moment but her grip on the broom barely faltered. After a while, she asked, "Why would I trust you? You could be like her."

My chest hurt again. I had forgotten that I was different now. Sighing, I replied, "Toni, it's me Jason."

When I mentioned who I was, I expected her to flip out and deny that I was even Jason. Bracing myself, I put my arms in front of my face as I heard Toni drop the broom. Before I knew it, I felt… hands on my cheeks. Looking up, I saw that Toni had knelt by my side, trying to help me up.

"Oh my God," Toni said as concern began to flood face, "Jason, how… why… what happened to you?"

"I-I don't know," I said, still a little shocked that she accepted _**everything**_ that easily. "I-I just… turned into this after I saw the light."

"The light?" Toni asked. She avoided eye contact when I mentioned it.

"Aw, how sweet," said Alice's voice from the darkness, "too bad you only have ten minutes left to escape me."

As we both looked up, we finally noticed that we were surrounded by an army of toys. Meanwhile, Alice stood outside the circle, her hands glowing while she held it out in front of her.

"Let us go, you spoiled brat," I growled at her angrily as I gestured Toni to stay behind me.

Alice simply smiled at my insult. "It doesn't matter if I'm spoiled or not. Though, I have to admit that your efforts to evade me are quite successful compared to how other people do. Especially you, my little doll," she said as she motioned towards Toni. "It's a good thing to have your knight protect you now."

"Who are you calling doll?" Toni yelled.

Alice simply ignored Toni. "So, what will it be, my little knight," she muttered, fixing her eyes on me. "Will you save the princess?"

When I heard her mutter those words, I merely glared at her in disgust. I finally understood what this was all about. Toni and I were only toys in her twisted game, nothing more. I should know; I watch my sister play dollhouse and pretend almost in the same manner. Alice, however, was heartless. There were no plans for a happy ending in this world.

"You sicken me," I said as my hands balled into a fist.

"Sorry, but that's how I like to play," Alice said with her eyes transfixed on both of us, her impatience evident. "Hurry up before the clock strikes one."

I felt my whole body tense. I was too afraid; too angry to even make a move. I still had powers that were beyond my control and one false move would cause us. I could've failed in saving Toni and I.

Toni must have known what I felt because I her grip tightened. When I looked back at her, I was surprised to see her eyes full of determination. "Jason, you could do this," she whispered to me, "We're so close now. All you have to do is wing it."

_Wing it_. The moment she mentioned that word, an idea formed in my head. I didn't like it one bit but it was our only chance of escape. Grabbing Toni by her waist, I said, "Sorry, Alice, but it looks like it you're the one who's out of time."

Before she even had the chance to reply, I summoned all my concentration to flight. Unexpectedly, Toni and I zipped upward in an extremely inhuman rate. When both of us hit the ceiling, I looked down. Alice looked pissed off with my move. As she yelled at us angrily, she made a shoving gesture towards us. In my horror, all the toys began to compress together. I could already guess what would happen next. Holding Toni closer to me, I made a run for it.

I ran blindly away from Alice's crazy attack. It was like a laser that was made out of toys. I temporarily looked back, only to see that this attack was strong enough to create a crack across the ceiling. I could even feel the building shudder under my feet… or over, I wasn't really sure what.

Suddenly I felt something tugging my shirt. When I looked down, I saw that Toni was pointing at something. I looked at what she was trying to tell me and that's when my eyes widened. The door stood slightly ajar now. It must've been from the tremor Alice's attacks were making. When I had stopped running across the ceiling, I turned back─ only see Alice had stopped and saw what we were seeing.

"NO! NONONONO!" Alice cried while placing her hands over her head.

She began to fly straight towards us, deranged and angry. Toni hid her face in my jacket while I instinctively jumped and flew towards the door.

In the speed we were going, I believed that we were going to make it. We were a few feet away from the door. Six, Five. We were so close. We were…

In the middle of my panic, warmth washed over me. Before I knew what was going on, I could feel myself getting weaker and heavier. Unexpectedly, gravity came back. As we crashed onto the ground and skidded across the floor, I let Toni go in the process. When friction finally stopped me, I immediately looked up to see if she was safe. She looked unconscious but she looked fine. I also realized that she was outside as well. She won the game while I was still trapped. I was too weak to stand up so I began to crawl my way out.

"Not so fast!"

Something grabbed me by my backpack. I knew who it was. I couldn't look back. I just focused on clawing my way out.

"You can't escape me," wailed Alice as she tried to hold me back, "You have to play with me. I want to have someone to play with. Please!"

As I temporarily looked back, I saw Alice's eyes were full of actual dread. She didn't matter anymore actually. She was dead. Then again, I was…

"Jason, hold on!"

I was pulled back into the real world as I felt a pair of hands grab mine. As Toni pulled onto me as hard as she could, I felt a familiar sensation pass over me. The weight of my backpack had seemed to disappear as I was thrust out into the light. Toni lost her footing and fell backwards as well. When I saw where I was, I realized I had made it, too. We were free.

Suddenly, I heard a loud thump on the ground. When I looked what landed beside me, I saw my backpack. Both Toni and I turned back to see Alice standing in the shadows. For once, she wore a genuine smile.

"Well played, knight, well played," she said cheerfully, "I hope we play again someday. It was fun."

With one step back, she disappeared.

I didn't understand what just happened but I was too exhausted to even think about it.

"Toni, I think we had enough touring for one day," I said with my usual sarcasm.

When I looked at her, she looked surprised. I gave her a bewildered look.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Jason, are you ok?

I slowly nodded my head, not really sure how to respond to her question. "Yeah," I replied, "Why?"

"I mean, you were dead a while ago. Now you're..."

"What do you even…"

I stopped in the middle of my sentence. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my hair. I was so shocked that I was jolted awake and I immediately ran towards the window. Sure enough, I could see my reflection. The white hair and glowing green eyes were gone, and my black hair and violet eyes were back. I was me again.

"How…"

Before I even had the chance to ask, I fainted.

* * *

><p>When I first woke up, I was greeted by the sun. I tried to block my eyes from its rays but it was a useless attempt. Giving up, I tried to put myself in a comfortable position. It seemed useless as well. My hands couldn't seem to find the ground even if I could feel the earth underneath me. When my vision finally focused, I finally saw where I was.<p>

It was a small clearing. I was surrounded with nothing but bushes and trees, and grass was quite plush, if not a little too long. When I looked up, I saw that the sun was nearing the west as birds flew overhead. This was a spot I would usually find myself sketching, which was good because I remembered I had brought my drawing materials. When I tried to reach out for my backpack, I realized it was missing.

_Where was it? _I thought as I frantically began to search for it. When I looked next to me, I was surprised to see Toni, fast asleep. She looked peaceful, leaning against a tree. I decided not to bother her but my mind immediately when I saw my backpack right in her arms.

"Toni, what do you think you're doing with my stuff?!" I yelled at her, hoping my voice would wake her up.

Like a startled bunny, Toni's eyes flew wide open as she began to look around. It took her a while before her eyes landed on me. To my surprise, she looked defensive. Her clutch tightened on my backpack as she asked, "Jason, how do you feel?"

I gave her a suspicious look. "Why would you like to know how I feel? I feel fine."

Toni, still clinging onto my backpack, stood up and began to walk slowly towards me, as if making sure it was safe to come closer. When she was sure, she sat down beside me and, using her free hand, she reached out for my shoulder.

"Hey, what are you…"

As Toni's hands landed on my shoulder, I didn't feel… anything. I watched in horror and in fascination as her hands went **through** me.

"What are you, Jason?" Toni asked as she looked at me in the eye. "What are you?"

Right at that moment, everything came back to me. The toy store, the girl, our escape, my…

The feeling came to me again. The light emerged and, this time, I saw where it came from. There was a beam of light that appeared over my waist. Quickly, it began to form two bright rings and they began to travel in opposite directions, one going up and one going down. As they passed over, I could feel myself becoming stronger and colder. As the transformation completed, I saw the same thin halo of light that eerily floated over my skin. I could already tell what had happened to me. I almost screamed in shock but Toni immediately planted her hands on my mouth.

"Shh," Toni scolded me, "You don't want anyone to find you like this."

When Toni released me, I coughed and spluttered a bit. "Toni, seriously don't do that. I could feel the dirt inside my mouth."

"Jeez, sorry Grumpy McSnotty," Toni said as she rolled her eyes. "But seriously, you have me confused. You convinced me that you were dead in this form but… you switched back into a human as if it was nothing. I even checked your pulse."

"My pulse?"

Unconsciously, I placed two of my fingers under my neck. I partially expected for the regular rhythm of the blood flowing through my veins but there was nothing there.

I sighed, feeling dejected. "Well, whatever pulse you felt, it's not there anymore."

Toni looked at me thoughtfully. She then placed the bag down and reached out for my chest. I backed away for a bit, a bit scared but she seemed insistent checking. When her hands finally touched it, her frown grew.

"It's gone…"

I sighed as I began rubbing the back of my neck. Well, what a depressing day.

Suddenly, Toni grabbed my cheeks and pulled me closer to her face.

"But it's fascinating to see you like this," Toni remarked. "Seriously, I never expected something as cool as this to happen to me in a lifetime."

I frowned widened. It seemed like Toni didn't understand half of the situation. As I pushed her hands away from me, I stated, "Toni, it's not cool. Sure, I read a couple of superhero stories but they're all fictional. I don't even know how I turned into this. Even I'm surprised you're taking this whole thing lightly!"

Toni then sat in silence. She placed her finger on her chin, pretending to be some sort of detective. After a while, she snapped her fingers.

"I know! Maybe you got involved in some freak accident that you don't remember; maybe when you were a baby. Your powers decided to just show up now!"

I rolled my eyes. "That is highly unlikely. But…"

Toni stopped smiling as she looked at my face, now deep in concern. "What's wrong? Is there something about it that bothers you?"

"… this was the power that guy was looking for," I muttered in realization, remembering the dream I had before I came to this town.

"What guy? Jason, there's something you're not telling me."

I shook my head. I didn't want to consider my dream. "Forget about it, Toni. Just do."

Toni's eyebrows creased with worry. After a while, she then decided to change the subject. "Now that you have these powers, what are you going to do now?"

I looked at her. She was serious with her question.

"Ignore them," I said with a monotonic voice, "Try to control them. Forget this ever happened."

Toni frowned. "With what you pulled off with that little ghost girl, you could do more."

I stared onto the ground as she stood up and picked up my backpack.

"C'mon and change back," Toni said while she smiled at me, "I'm carrying your stuff home just in case your powers act up."


End file.
